"D.M.Chapman" dmc@puffin. wrote in message
...
In article ,
Fred wrote:
Hi,

I was wondering about using rechargeable batteries for our children's
toys. I know that rechargeable batteries are suited better to some
applications than others; do you think they would be suitable for
these? I think it is only low drain uses, such as clocks, where
rechargeables don't perform well, isn't it?

Pretty much. A big problem with NiMH is the self drain - they will
got flat on their own with little use. A low drain device you'll find the
cell goes flat on its own before the device flattens it.

Look for the Eneloop (and clone) type cells - *much* better. They appear
to be lower capacity but with a few days the normal ones will have dropped
to that level anyway.

What is the best charger to buy? I thought Uniross was supposed to be
the name in rechargeable technology but I've read a few reviews on
amazon of their charges and they are criticised for being timed
chargers rather than intelligent chargers. The energiser charger
appears to be highly recommended though one criticism is that it only
charges pairs of batteries and many toys use three at a time.

Find one that charges individual cells with decent feedback.

Is there an intelligent charger than charges batteries individually?

Plenty. Not cheap but worth the extra IMO. I use a couple of Ansmann
chargers. Take a look at the Energy (plus) range for example.

http://www.ansmann.de/cms/en/consumr...gy-8-plus.html

http://tinyurl.com/yaljhzn

I'm likely to buy nimh. Why are these preferred over nicd? Is it just
that cadmium is not friendly? Is there any advantage to ever using
nicd? Would one charger charge both if I ever needed or are some
chargers nicd or nimh only?

Any decent charger will do both.

Finally, I see that AA batteries are rated at 2700mAh and C and D
cells are rated 2600mAh. I would have expected a larger battery to
have had a higher capacity; why not?

Because they are AA cells in the large empty plastic case. You can
get adaptors to do this yourself which is a lot more flexable (not sure
the ones that take more than one cell are wise - uneven discharging
could be a problem).

Proper NiMH C and D cells are available, but are usually expensive (check
Lidl for cheap ones - although I've had issues with them). Take a look at

http://www.battery-force.co.uk/detai...Pack-of-2.html

http://tinyurl.com/ybs223u

http://www.battery-force.co.uk/detai...Pack-of-2.html

http://tinyurl.com/yhleady

Pricey :-)

The other thing is in practise you'll find a decent brand 2300mAh cell
will
often be much better than a cheap 2700mAh - I've given up with "cheap"
cells.

Darren


Another vote for Ansmann here - I've got several of their chargers, all
excellent.

I've had good service from Budget Batteries in the past:
http://www.budgetbatteries.co.uk/battery-chargers/

Alan.